I mix my watercolor water with vodka when the temperature is below freezing. I use the cheapest kind of vodka. It’s important to use spirits with no colour or spices, since it might otherwise get sticky on the pages. Clean vodka just evaporates, doesn’t even smell strange once it’s gone from the paper. The colder the weather, the more vodka in the mix, usually at least 50/50. I bring a little bottle of this with me, and fill up a waterbrush with it. I don’t use my good paintbrushes, the liquor isn’t good for my brushes.

Vodka in her watercolors. The idea itself is art.

I’m going to blurt what we’re all thinking: that’s precisely the kind of creative fix that deserves a Pulitzer.

Or a movie contract.

Not only is she pursuing her art in freezing temperatures, she’s also — and I can’t emphasize the utter rightness of this enough — painting with vodka.

You can continue with your day, secure in the knowledge that you will never be as cool — or as committed.